Nur Ein I Round Four "Like A Villain"

[Niveous]

We are getting down to the nitty gritty. The songs have been posted. Feel free to enjoy the tunes and review as the jury deliberates. The jury will also be posting reviews in this thread but the actual scoring will not be announced until friday. On Friday, you will find out who has been eliminated as well as the new title and non optional challenge, but y'all probably already knew that.

NUR EIN!!!

[WeaselSlayer]

Um, so out of curiosity I just listened to Calfborg's entry and it's fucking incredible. It's pure danceable evil.

[jimtyrrell]

Calfborg – Could have gotten to the first verse about twice as quick and still had the same impact, I think. The vocals make this shine. Like the atmosphere on the “Oh Christ the knife’ part. This is good.

Deshead – Well-produced as always. By the ‘So Many Days’ bit this has won me over. Very strong piece.

Glenn Case – What is it with your stuff? I always want to cover it. The lie and cheat and steal line is infectious. A Hell of a first three songs so far. What am I even doing hanging around these guys?

Jim Tyrrell – Borrowing from ‘We All Need Love’, by Johnny In The Corner. Attempted to tackle a few musical challenges: backing vocals that sing a different line from the main melody, and an instrumental outro different from the main body of the song. I like how this came out, actually.

Ken – Not as engaging as the other stuff I’ve heard so far, but certainly well done. I mean, I can’t see myself voting something like this off. Thank goodness I’m not a judge.

Leaf 62 – AAAGH! Man, that guitar sounds great. Well done for what it is, but suffers from genre prejudice on my part. As it goes on it begins to remind me of Faith No More. Oh, it ends well too.

Octothorpe – I thought this was WreckdoM at first. This is just okay. I might like it better if I had the lyrics, because I’m sure I missed some of them.

Ross Durand – Good story. I like the guitar stuff right after the whispering bit.

Tex Beaumont – Oh man, this just drips attitude. And that fade around 2:22 is awesome.

Thornberry – This is one synthesizer away from sounding just like Pink Floyd. That’s not a bad thing, to me anyway. Nicely done, very nicely done in fact, but there’s better in this fight. Still, how could I vote this off and sleep at night?

WreckdoM – Love the Flipper-style laughing. This is pretty funny. That ending is sweet.


Man. Good luck judges. Better you than me.

[Thornberry]

Thornberry – This is one synthesizer away from sounding just like Pink Floyd. That’s not a bad thing, to me anyway. Nicely done, very nicely done in fact, but there’s better in this fight. Still, how could I vote this off and sleep at night?

Luckily, there is a very easy answer to your question.

This song has nothing to do with 'Like A vallian' , nor does it plagarize anyone, nor was even written in the past week. I wasn't trying to pull a fast one, but because I've been sick, I slept in late today and so you got to reviewing before i could put up this disclaimer.

Ya, because of a number of things, i wasnt able to record my song this week, which made me so mad and frustrated (because i really thought i had written a nice tune) that i made my head pound enough i had to sedate myself and sleep for 13 hours.

But i didnt want to submit nothing, but I also dont want to make it seem like im trying to cheat. So just in case somehow its hard to tell this isnt about Valiians: Jurors, dont forget to award me nothing! And to all the reviews, I know time can be a restraint, so listen to mine last. If you have time, I would love a review. This is one my favorite songs of mine for many reasons, and I would love to see what you think, but if you cant, i understand completely.

sorry to pull out this way, i feel terrible, but i couldnt go out in silence. thanks to everyone for reviewing this fight, fighting this fight, judging this fight, and putting on this fight. Its been a blast. Im never one to go with underdogs, so i think i got my money on Des, but it is always great to seee someone pull one out

Good Luck remaining 10!

[jimtyrrell]

Well thanks for clearing it up, and it's too bad to see you drop out. And I do like this tune quite a bit, really.

Nur Ein!

[Niveous]

Sorry to see you go Thornberry.

Well, now we are down to ten. I feel so Agatha Christie.

10 little Indians going out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were 9.
9 little Indians sat up very late;
One overslept herself and then there were 8.
8 little Indians traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay and then there were 7.
7 little Indians chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself into halves and then there were 6.
6 little Indians playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were 5.
5 little Indians going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were 4.
4 little Indians going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were 3.
3 little Indians walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were 2.
2 little Indians playing with a gun;
One shot the other and then there was 1.
1 little Indian left all alone;
She went and hanged herself and then there were none.

Except there will be one left...NUR EIN!

[Spud]

Here's a <a href=http://www.songfight.org/nur_ein_4.m3u>stream</a>.

[Niveous]

Thank you, Spud. It is greatly appreciated.

[Spud]

You don't think I'm gonna keep doing it after we're out do you? So, you know, vote for us.

[ken]

You don't think I'm gonna keep doing it after we're out do you? So, you know, vote for us.

Spud is a class act.

[Tex Beaumont]

Sorry to see you go Thornberry.

Well, now we are down to ten. I feel so Agatha Christie.

10 little Indians going out to dine;

Wow, that takes me back - I remember reading that book in Year 7 English class - but back then it was called "10 Little Niggers". I guess it's not surprising it's had a title change nowdays - but it seems a bit unfair to Indians.

And yes - sorry to see you go Thornberry - you were one of the main contenders here

[Niveous]

Actually, the book is usually referred to by the much more PC title- "And Then There Were None".

[Spud]

I might like it better if I had the lyrics, because I’m sure I missed some of them.

http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=54193#54193

[j$]

I had some major reservations about this challenge - it seemed like it could be misinterpreted as a way to curry favour by rubbing the judges' collective virtual chubbies. We shall see ...

calfborg - starts out like it's a week late for 'el balazo' - solid awesome groove - vocal is too good to be buried too deep. I hear 'naked on the meach' thrown in there. The 'into freezer' breakdown loses me a bit. Not bad just want to get back to that groove. Half the length of the break might be better. Oh, ok it's not a break - I dunno it just feels a bit like two (or more songs) wedged together without rhyme or reason. Which is probably enough to make it good.

Deshead - too camp for me. ha ha ha. Maybe a little too much going on for me, I wish it was a bit more slabbish. But the high backing vocals and that catchy melody riff are great. There is an oddly synthetic paul simon thing going on here for me. I dunno where that comparision comes from. Impressive, but a little over-produced for my tastes maybe.

Glenn case - this is great. What are those chords - 6ths? I dunno - i really like the mood they suggest. I'd like to hear a little hammond organ going on a counter-melody but apart from that there is os much energy and inventiness and dynamic progression here it's very hard to hate. A ride. Production-wise could do with a tiny bit more top end? Maybe I dunno - maybe an organ or lead guitar would take care of that. This is strange and yet totally pop at the same time, and therefore I like it.

Jim - did Jack give you the backing track??? Obviously i love it - the original tune is still one of my favourite songs i have been involved in Lyrically who this about? I don't like the ambiguity of it. It's like you're dissing someone (be it a arc-o-type or not) without nailing your colours to the mast. I dunno how to judge this. Could do with a few knob-gags. I love that organ solo - nice and cheesy against a framework that doesn't let it break out but still hints at Zawinul madness.

Ken - you're right - no idea. But I like it. And not what I expected, which is great. I like this a lot.

Leaf - Top!

# - also, top! This is fabulous. Nice early-live-Frank-Zappa-colliding-with-the-Beach-Boys-in-Negativeland's-home-studio feel to this. Great guitar. Lovely healthy lack of respect for normal production works that brings this on home. Farsisa (?) organ is the icing on the cake.

Ross Durand - Springsteen-esque, anyone? Really well done, and there's Nataly K! Probably done at 2.33? Really like the chord shifts at 3.20ish, however ... really nice ending. Feels slightly at odds with what went before? maybe not, but the ending was my favourite part ....

Tex Beaumont - Divine's version of 'Walk Like A Man' is my favourite song of all time, just saying. This is cute. Not really engaging me but I can totally appreciate what you're going for, and you get there, I just not sure I want to come along for the ride in the stolen police car. I'd probably duck out at the lights saying I need to get some cigarettes, and walk away with a sigh of relief, without looking back, as this music on the car stereo fades into the horizon ...

Thornberry - gone, right?

Wreckdom - you sound like #! Oh weird. Oh mastered loud! This sounds like one of those 90s dance rock remix bands like Apollo 440 or someone. I like the Ha ha ha has. And I love the lyric. The explosions are a little overpowering. Bass player could be better. Overall, good, and mad, and cool last line.

Aw crap, I like 'em all

[Niveous]

For those wondering, Ken stole from my "Put Cindy...".

[jack]

i'm halfway through reviewing these and all i can say is damn you guys are goooooood. impressive lot. all A game.

[deshead]

Deshead - too camp for me.

That cracked me up.

[ken]

For those wondering, Ken stole from my "Put Cindy...".

I would like to think I honored it.

You could probably make a mash-up of the two.

Ken

[jimtyrrell]

Jim - did Jack give you the backing track??? Obviously i love it - the original tune is still one of my favourite songs i have been involved in Lyrically who this about? I don't like the ambiguity of it. It's like you're dissing someone (be it a arc-o-type or not) without nailing your colours to the mast. I dunno how to judge this. Could do with a few knob-gags. I love that organ solo - nice and cheesy against a framework that doesn't let it break out but still hints at Zawinul madness.

Jack didn't give me the backing track, that's me and my Casio. When I read the challenge, I knew exactly what piece I wanted to plagiarize. No contest.
As for the lyrical ambiguity, I'll have to agree. The rhyme structure and prosodic flow of the lyric ended up taking precendent over the actual message, but in this case it felt like the flow was more important.
Knob gags. There's a field I haven't yet explored much. I don't know that it would have served this piece very well, but if I live on to the next round (or get an idea about one of the SF titles this week), I'll see if I can't oblige.

[Eric Y.]

Actually, the book is usually referred to by the much more PC title- "And Then There Were None".

i'm pretty sure that's the title it was released under in the US... a few of dame agatha's books have had alternate american titles, as i recall.

[LMNOP]

i'm pretty sure that's the title it was released under in the US

I had the same memory so I looked it up and you're correct. In England, it's original title used the N-word which was later altered to the I-word and it was "And Then There Were None" in the US.

[Tex Beaumont]

..just to keep this thread well and truly off-topic,

do American children use the playground rhyme:

Eenie meenie miney mo,
catch a N***** by the toe
If he squeals let him go
Eenie meenie miney mo

as a means of sellting disputes, making decisions, picking teams etc? Or is it more a British Empire sort of thing?

I was just thinking about that the other day and what a particularly nasty little rhyme that is - a relic from colonial days I suppose. I was certainly in very common useage in the 1970's - I would be surprised if isn't still being used by children today - these 'word-of-mouth' learnt rhymes are very resiliant.
(BTW: as a child using this rhyme in the 1970's - I would have had no idea what the N-word meant - it was just part of the rhyme, and not a word in common usage in suburban Australia at the time)


reviews later tonight